Energy / Shipping
U.S. Forces Disable a Cargo Ship in the Gulf of Oman and Take the Iran Blockade to Land
A fifth merchant ship has been stopped by fire since July, and a new Tampa task force now aims at the truck, rail and Caspian routes that feed Iran.
TickerGrove Newsroom · Published
U.S. forces disabled the cargo ship M/V Huda in the Gulf of Oman on Saturday after its crew ignored repeated warnings and tried to break the naval blockade of Iran, Central Command said.
A U.S. military aircraft fired precision munitions — guided weapons aimed at a chosen point — at the ship's stern, the command said in its release. Before the strike, U.S. forces directed the crew to abandon the targeted spaces.
The Huda is flagged in St. Kitts and Nevis and had visited an Iranian port. It was trying to depart regional waters when it was stopped, the command said.
Central Command did not say whether anyone aboard was hurt, how many crew the ship carried, or what it was carrying.
A bulk carrier at anchor off Khor Fakkan
The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) center recorded an incident involving a bulk carrier and military forces about 18 nautical miles east of Khor Fakkan, in the United Arab Emirates. It listed the crew's status as unknown.
Maritime Executive, a shipping trade publication, identified that record as the Huda's position and reported the vessel-tracking service Vesseltracker said all crew were reportedly safe. That safety report has not been confirmed by Central Command or the ship's manager.
The Huda is a dry bulk carrier of about twenty-five thousand deadweight tons, built in 1999. The particulars come from the ClassNK register data cited in maritime security reporting.
The fifth ship stopped by fire since July
Enforcement since July has redirected 147 commercial vessels that complied with warnings, Central Command said. Five merchant ships that refused have been disabled, and U.S. forces have previously destroyed another ten Iranian commercial oil tankers.
The command describes those tankers as part of a multibillion-dollar shadow network run by Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
The Huda is the first vessel the United States has reported disabling since October 10, when it struck another bulk carrier, the Ocean Molica, in the same waters, Maritime Executive reported.
For commercial crews, the message is operational. Ships leaving Iranian ports that ignore blockade warnings can expect to be stopped by fire, not just turned away.
Sources & evidence
Sources used for this piece.
U.S. Central Command
Reuters
Maritime Executive
Associated Press
DeepDraft (maritime security reporting)
Press TV (IRGC Navy statement)
Corrections
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